Bound by Blood: A Family Legacy
by Mackie96
Summary: Maximilian Ren's world comes crashing down as Titans destroy his hometown. Spurred on by his family heritage he and his childhood best friend Gustavo Mervaine become members of the 104th Cadet Corps to beat back the voracious giants. As he advances through the ranks he realizes the world is not what it seems and that a deeper mystery lies behind the Titans and their origin.
1. A Grim Reminder

**_(A/N: So, here is my first canon-universe story! *GASP* The story will follow the 104th Cadet Corps as two lifelong friends seek to become members of the Survey Corps. It will follow the main Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kiojin. Also, I will be following the Manga so you have been warned *MANGA SPOILERS*. As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome._**

 _Year 845, Shiranagh, Southeastern Wall Maria_

The day had not been unlike any other; the town square was bustling with merchants selling the daily produce friends laughed and knocked back their drinks in the tavern while children played in the streets and surrounding wide green spaces, even the Wall had a certain beauty about it that day.

Among the children playing were three lifelong friends; two boys and one girl. Gustavo, the youngest of the three, wearing baggy olive green trousers and a scarlet button-up shirt, was running away from the other two with a leather ball tucked under his arm the light breeze running through his dark hair. "Gonna getcha", Misa, the solitary girl of the group, tauntingly sang, her dark green cardigan blew behind her like some obnoxious cape. The third member of the group, a boy with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, Maximilian, or simply 'Max', reached out to grab Gustavo's ankles, but his hand only grabbed air and crumbled into the dirt. "Too slow, dear old boy", Gustavo called back to him, his cockiness was to be short-lived as he suddenly tripped over his own feet and the ball fell from his grip.

"Too cocky, Gus", Misa said as she flicked her blonde ponytail behind her back and picked the ball up, spinning it atop her index finger. Max could not help but laugh, "Says the one showing off", snatching the ball from her hand, before sticking his tongue out and blowing a raspberry back at her. "Catch me if you can", picking up his pace and turned his head forward.

In his eagerness, he had not noticed the tall figure stepping into his path. He fell back on his behind and was met with an annoyed grunt from the said figure. "Ugh lousy kids, watch where you're going pipsqueak". Max looked up to see the man was dressed in military uniform, standing up to apologise he noticed the patch on the soldier's jacket, a green unicorn with a white mane, the emblem of the military police. His desire to apologise quickly dissipated. "Wow, did the MPs finally decide to do their job for once and leave the interior", Max sneered up at him. The man looked far from impressed and grabbed Max by the collar of his shirt, "You ungrateful little shit, who do you think you are to talk to me like that? We're the only thing stopping you animals from going for each other's throats." He released his grip and let Max fall to the ground, "Trust me to get patrol duty in peasant-central", he grumbled to himself as he walked away.

Max rubbed the back of his head as Misa and Gus rushed to his side to help him up, "Nevermind that jerk, Max", Gus grabbed his arm and hoisted him up. "Yeah he's an MP; a pathetic excuse for a soldier", Misa added whilst giving him a reassuring rub on his arm. "I guess, once all three of us finish military training we'll show cowards like him what it means to be a soldier, the Scouts are the only ones risking their lives for the good of humanity."

Maximilian Ren had a reason for his desire to join the Survey Corps, at least one member in his family had served since its inception. His father Marcus and brother Sebastian were both current members away on the expedition. Marcus Ren was a squad leader and had placed first in his class during training, Sebastian had also been the top trainee upon his graduation three years ago and was slowly racking up an impressive Titan kill count. Max sought to emulate the two of them as well as his late uncle, Rudolf. His death on the expedition last year had not deterred the young boy's aspirations.

Misa and Gus were also eager to join, the three of them had been as thick as thieves since they were able to walk. For them, the Scouts meant one thing that humanity had seemed all too comfortable to forget; freedom. A world free from the towering monsters and no longer living like a livestock. The Scouts were expected back later that morning and all three of them could not contain their excitement.

The three of them bid farewell as they returned home to await the arrival of the town's representatives from the Scouts. Unlike the majority of settlements, the town took great pride in its sons and daughters risking life and limb for the betterment of all of mankind. To speak out against the Legion was a major taboo and a closed fist to the jaw was not unexpected in return.

Max's mother, Sabine was finishing preparing Marcus' favourite dish; beef and onion pie for his return. Max was met with a tight embrace from his eight-year-old sister Margo as he stepped through the front door. "Gah, don't crush my ribs, save it for the Titans", she released her grip and he tousled her hair. "Make sure you wash up now Maximilian, your father did not risk his life to come home to children with dirty faces." She laughed as he quickly brought his hand to his face in his quest to find the offending dirt, "Made you flinch."

"Ha-ha, you're a riot."

"Oh now, don't sulk, or you can expect extra turnip on your plate this evening", the mention of the dreaded vegetable quickly made him soften his features.

Some two hours later, the ringing of the town bells had brought a large gathering to the entrance of the town's western border. Sabine, each of her hands resting on both of her children's shoulder eagerly stood near the front of the crowd. The sight that greeted the citizens of Shiranagh was stark to their optimism.

Of the thirty representatives in the legion, only twelve stood before them. Hans Elsnar, a veteran of some twelve years was missing his left arm, in its place was a bloody stump wrapped in a tourniquet. Alice Reil, Misa' older sister, had a bandage wrapped around her head and covering her right eye, her blonde braids were stained red. None of the Scouts had seemed to arrive back without an injury of a sort. But this was to be expected. The abnormally low survival rate combined with a defeated look on all of their faces had sapped all the positive energy from the crowd.

Some awkward murmurs began to snake through the gathering, "Do you remember having a survival rate this low...they look like they haven't had a wink of sleep in days...they were so optimistic when they left a week ago." Among the miserable marchers, Marcus Ren greeted his family, his two children wrapping him in a tight embrace. His wife went to kiss him but nearly recoiled when she looked into her husband's face; he had seemed to age a decade since he left and he was avoiding eye contact. She scanned around "Where is Sebastian, did he stop off in Shiganshina?" Her husband just looked dead ahead, "Let's go home", his voice heavy.

Marcus sat at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around his cup of tea. Sabine's voice was breaking as tears began to stream down her face. "Tell me it's not true, it can't be, he was supposed to be one of the best soldiers there. Seb, this is some sick joke, isn't it? My son isn't dead." She broke down, Marcus wrapped her hands in his, "I'm sorry." He swallowed hard, "We had very bad luck in this expedition, we lost sixty percent of our soldiers, Commander Shadis broke down in front of a grieving mother when we returned to Shiganshina, he told me he's leaving the Scouts."

Max was despondent, Sebastian Ren was dead. He remembered how his brother had been so strong. Standing 187 centimetres tall and well-built at 98 kilograms of hard muscle. Girls swooned over him and his handsome features, intense hazel coloured eyes and brown hair that he let hang freely down to his shoulders. He had 28 solo Titan kills alone along with some 30 assisted ones, had he simply become more fodder in the human-titan war?

"Are you telling me the Commander doesn't have the guts to make the ultimate sacrifice for humanity?", Max banged his hands on top of the table. "Uncle Rudolf and now Seb have given their lives so that we may be free of the Titans and he can't." He left the table and ran outside, "Maximilian", his father called after him, but the child either didn't hear him or chose not to. He finally stopped running once he arrived at the stream just outside the town and began sobbing, his big brother was no more.

He hadn't noticed Misa take a seat next to him, "I heard from Alice, apparently Commander Shadis chose a different route this time, and encountered much more titans than usual." She rubbed his back up and down, "I'm sorry about Seb, Max." He stopped sobbing and wiped away his tears to look at her. "Alice told me what happened, three twelve meter Titans surrounded him at once. He managed to kill two of them before the third one grabbed him." Max simply stared ahead and then turned around to look at Wall Maria, some 30 kilometres away. "Do you think we'll ever live to see a world without walls?"

"Of course I do, humanity's will to fight will make it possible, we will see the outside world, Max," she held out her hand, "Together?" He took her hand, "Together", he said firmly.

Supper had been uncomfortably silent, the empty chair next to Max had been painful to ignore. No one felt like talking. He turned over his food with his fork trying to do something, anything to distract him from the terrible news he was told hours ago. After choking down the rest of his dinner he went to his room without saying a word.

A few hours later, after tossing and turning to no end, he finally felt himself beginning to drift off to sleep when he heard a loud rumbling in the distance. *BOOM*...*BOOM*...*BOOM*...*BOOM*. *BOOM*. *BOOM*. *BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*. Max got out of bed just as his father burst open the door to his room. "Get downstairs quick, you need to get on one of the carriages, the Titans have breached Wall Maria." Max just stood in disbelief, how could this happen, everything over the past twelve hours had been nothing short of a nightmare. His father gripped both of his shoulders, breaking him out of his trance, "Max, listen to me, you, your mother and Margo need to get to safety, you need to be strong for them."

Marcus gathered the remaining soldiers fit enough to fight when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "I'm fighting too". He turned around to see that it was Hans Elsnar. Marcus looked at the stump where Hans' arm used to be twenty-four hours earlier. "As long as I'm still standing, I'm gonna kill Titans, don't even try to talk me out of it, especially when my home is at stake." Marcus nodded firmly, "Fritz, Guido, Tomas link up with Hans, Alice coordinate with the Garrison to evacuate civilians", he unsheathed one of his swords and brought his right hand to his chest, "This is it soldiers, the darkest day in humanity's history has arrived, Wall Maria has been compromised if we ever needed to give our all that time is now, offer your hearts in the name of mankind!" All of them roared and raised their swords.

Max ran with his mother and Margo out of their house, the carriages were on the other side of the town, they had some way to go before finding safety. Shiranagh was absolute bedlam, everyone fumbling over what belongings to bring with them, the small squad of Garrison soldiers in the town were wheeling out its heavy cannons.

With a loud *CRASH*, the building in front of them came tumbling down. In its place now stood a 13-meter class Titan, stocky proportions, long silver hair and a hideous face of pig-like blue eyes, and a demented close-lipped smile. The path to the carriages was no longer accessible through this direction, they would have to go around.

All three of them heard a scream from behind them as they turned to run. "Someone help me!", the voice screamed. Max turned around to see, Solomon, the town butcher in the creature's grasp. "Don't look", screamed his mother as she took her son's hand and pulled him away. Max couldn't help it, he had only visited Solomon's shop that morning, and now the man was being brought to the greedy mouth of the Titan. "No stop, PLEASE DON'T AGHHH-" his screams were cut off by a sickening *CRUNCH*. Max turned away and quickened his pace.

More Titans began entering the town, there had to be at least eight of them now. The cannons began firing relentlessly. "Dammit, what the hell are you aiming at", he heard the Garrison captain bark at a member of the cannon crew. "These things weren't exactly built for moving targets", the cannoneer responded, "Try to avoid hitting the buildings, you'll trap citizens if you do."

In a moment of prophetic irony, a cannonball missed and hit a row of houses to the right of the Rens. The family kept running until Max saw Misa, who was trapped under debris from the cannon-struck buildings, "MISA", he ran towards her, "MAXIMILIAN, GET BACK HERE!", his mother screamed after him.

He tried lifting the debris, with all of his might, "I got this Misa, you're gonna be fine, we're not far from the carriages."

"Max", her voice was hoarse, "It's no use, you gotta get outta here."

"Shut up dammit, I can get you out of here, just hang on!"

"Max, with all due respect, not even Seb would've been strong enough to lift this rubble, don't die trying to be a hero." The boy wasn't listening, he began trying to lift the debris again when the girl's free hand grabbed his wrist. "Your mother lost one son today, don't let her lose another. Please, go". Tears began streaming down Max's face, "We were gonna see the outside world together, it can't end now", his voice was now breaking. Misa used her free hand to break the locket around her neck. "I'll be right by your side, always, please don't die because of me."

A member of the Garrison grabbed him and dragged him away, "Get outta here kid, the Titans are coming." Max reached out a hand and grabbed the locket "MISA!"

"MAX STAY STRONG!", those were her last words before falling debris buried her underneath the rubble.

Max was despondent as he was placed in the carriage, his hand gripping Misa's locket firmly as he stared at his feet. He looked back at Shiranagh as the carriage pulled away. The number of Titans had swelled to sixteen, buildings were in ruins, and streets were aflame. What had caught Max's attention was his father, Marcus Ren was a man possessed, slicing through three Titans, but he was slowly being surrounded by them. The form of his father disappeared behind several of the monsters. He couldn't bear to watch, when he looked back the carriage had picked up the pace and his town was now in the distance. Shiranagh had fallen.

 _Two Hours Later:_

The carriages entered Karanes district at around eleven o'clock that night and the refugees were quickly escorted to the military barracks. The citizens of Karanes wore expressions of pity, shock, horror and, from a small minority, contempt at the sight of the refugees. "We don't have enough to accommodate these people, prices are going to soar now...Why should they get to leech off of our food and shelter?...If only the Titans had eaten more of them." Max turned to the source of the voices, a furious look on his face, but all he could do was sob, he didn't have enough in him to fight. His mother brought him into her embrace along with Margo as they continued their journey to the barracks.

Back at Shiranagh a full retreat had been ordered. "I need to find my sister", screamed Alice Reil, struggling against the grip of her comrades. "It's too late, the town's been overrun, it's hopeless." She socked him in the mouth and ran back into the town. "Reil are you crazy, there are too many of them." She ignored them as she ran towards the street where her house was located. All she found was rubble, she kicked a few stray bricks out of her way until she found a familiar lock of blonde hair sticking out from the rubble. "MISA!", she began lifting as much debris as she could, "Just hang in there, I'm coming!"

A Garrison soldier ran up to her, "Reil, she's gone, we have to get outta here."

"I'm _not_ leaving her behind, she's all I have left, dammit." The Garrison soldier sighed deeply and lifted her up, "Hey, what are you doing, PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT YOU BASTARD."

"We were ordered to retreat are you going to disobey a direct order from a Commanding Officer?", he quickened his pace. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "I can't leave her", she started sobbing. "I'm sorry", his voice was heavy.

Alice was now on a horse, "Alright people", the officer called from the front of the group of soldiers, "The rest of the Southern region of Wall Maria has been evacuated, our orders are to head to Karanese and then escort the refugees from this region in Karanese to Trost, the Titans are surely going to lose interest once they realize that there are no more humans left alive in Shiranagh." Alice looked behind her at the remains of her hometown, as Titans began tearing through buildings in their greedy quest to devour more humans. "Soldiers, to Karanese at full speed."

 _Trost Military Barracks, Two Days Later:_

The news that Wall Maria had been breached had sent a dark mood to everyone living within the walls. Humanity had received a grim reminder of its reality, how they were simply cattle, at the mercy of immense man-eating monsters.

Max waited in line to collect three small loaves of bread for himself, Margo and his mother. He saw a commotion over to his right, "Spineless cowards all of you! Y-you don't - you don't know what it's like! You seen one, you seen what they can do?" A brunet boy was on his behind yelling up at a member of the Garrison. The soldier looked less than pleased, "- You little-" as he advanced on the boy before a short blond boy stepped in front of him, "He's sorry, h-he didn't mean it he's just hungry. We all get that way, speak our minds out of turn sometimes? Forgive him, I beg you." The soldier looked to his left at the refugees, unsure of his response, "Yeah, well keep in mind who are giving up their fair share so they can eat, in case you haven't noticed we're all hungry. Tell your buddy a little gratitude goes a long way", he stormed off as the kid was helped up by both the blond boy and a girl with long black hair and a red scarf. Max felt pity for the boy _I wonder what you lost on your way here_. He was right no one understood their plight.

He bumped into someone as he advanced through the queue. "Sorry", he mumbled at the person, a short blonde girl of his age, who simply nodded in response, her face emotionless. He brought the bread back to Margo and his mother. Max noticed that Sabine was smiling. "I've good news." Max simply gestured for her to continue as he tore off a small piece from the loaf. "Your uncle Cyrus owns a tavern in the city, he's offered me a job, and we can lodge with him until we find our feet." Max had only met Cyrus, his mother's brother, once about two years ago, he had been a bandit before settling in Trost just before Max was born. His father and Cyrus had not gotten along due to Cyrus' criminal past and Cyrus' belief that the Survey Corps was 'a bunch of suicidal maniacs'.

"We're moving in this evening."

"That's", he sighed deeply, "Great, Mom."

"Can I ask a favour of you, Maximilian?" He looked up at her, "Yes?"

"Delay entering military training until the year after next?"

"What, why?"

"Cyrus will need help running the tavern."

"But-"

"Please, you and Margo are all I have left, once you're in the cadets I won't see you for another three years." Max felt a pang of guilt at hearing her words. She had just lost her husband and first-born child just two days earlier. "Fine", he managed to say before his mother hugged him, "Thank you."

Over the next few days, Max along with Margo was sent to plough the fields with the other refugees. Max recognized the trio from the barracks were there as well. "Why do we have to do this?", whinged Margo, "This is hard." Max inhaled deeply, "I know it is but you have to try Margo, the whole of humanity is depending on us to grow more food, else we'll all go hungry." She threw her hoe to the ground, "I don't wanna", she ran off into the nearby forest. "Margo, get back here." A member of the MPs gave an understanding nod and let him chase after her.

He ran through the forest, his face pelted by low hanging branches. "Margo", he called out, "I'll tell them you're sick and you can go back to mom, please, where are you?" He continued his search until he found her in a clearing. She was sitting on a boulder with her knees to her chest and was sobbing softly into her hands. "Margo?"

"I wanna go home, I wanna see Dad and Seb again, it's not fair." He wrapped her in a tight embrace. He shushed her as she sobbed into his shoulder, her warm tears staining his top were the least of his worries. "I m-miss them s-so much", she said with bated breaths. "I know, I do too", he soothingly rubbed his hand up and down her back.

After explaining the situation, a member of the Garrison, a tall blond-haired man with a thin moustache offered to take Margo back to the tavern. Max went back to ploughing taking occasional breaks to look at Misa's locket which had not left his possession since he left Shiranagh.

 _Trost, One Year Later:_

Max rolled another barrel from behind the tavern, _The Masked Man_ , into the bar behind the counter. "How many are back there?", Cyrus asked him. "About seven left uncle", he said catching his breath. Cyrus Berg bared a slight resemblance to his sister matching the shape her dark-blue eyes except his were a deep grey. His hair was also a dark grey cut in a crop top and he had a dark goatee which helped cover some of the scars from his days as a bandit. He stroked said goatee as if he were deep in thought. "Gah, I knew this city had plenty of drunks but there won't be any ale left for winter if this keeps up, alright lad, you're done for the day, just help your mother clean up those empty mugs."

Max did as he was told and was now in the alley behind the tavern bouncing a small ball against a nearby wall. He began increasing the intensity of his throws imagining the wall to be the face of the Titan that ate his brother. Though it became difficult because he had no frame of reference for this and he threw the ball hard in frustration. The ball came flying at him and he ducked to avoid it. "Dammit", the ball went rolling out into the street. He reached for it as it became stopped by a stranger's boot. "Still playing ball games Maximilian?"

He smiled as he recognized the voice and looked up to see the impressive figure of Erwin Smith, one of his father's protegés and current commander of the Survey Corps. "Care to join me, Commander Smith?"

Erwin smiled, "I've said before that you can call me Erwin." Max suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air by his legs from behind. "Is this little punk bothering you, Erwin?" Max recognized the source of this voice too. Erwin laughed "Okay you can put him down, Mike." Max was gently brought to the ground and started dusting himself off when Mike Zacharius, a close friend of his late father's began sniffing him. "You reek of ale and sweat, an improvement I must add."

Max shook him off, "What brings you to Trost?"

"We're leading an expedition to reclaim Wall Maria, tomorrow morning", Erwin looked him up and down, "I thought you would be in the cadet corps by now." Max rubbed his arm, "My mother asked me to delay until next year to help Mom and Uncle Cyrus run the tavern." Mike raised his eyebrows at the mention of Cyrus' name, "The bandit now runs a tavern? Probably a front for illegal activity."

"It's not like that Mr Zacharius, he's changed." Mike looked at Max sceptically. "Mike he was kind enough to take them in when they lost everything."

"I'd still need to sniff him to make sure."

Erwin placed a hand on Max's shoulder, "We're sorry about Seb and Marcus, Maximilian."

"You've nothing to be sorry for, I only wish I had been born sooner, and help him fight off the Titans."

Erwin nodded solemnly, "Alice Reil has been looking for you, she wanted me to give you this", Erwin held out his hand, a Scouting Legion badge was resting in his palm, "It belonged to Seb, it was the only thing of his we could recover." Max took the patch in his hand, some of the blue was beginning to fade but it was clearly the Wings of Freedom, the emblem of the Scouts. "Thank you, Erwin, Mr- Mike."

"We best be off, look after your mother and sister Max and we will see you, in time, with the Wings of Freedom on your back." Max waved the two of them farewell as they walked back towards the barracks.

Max sat at an empty table in The Masked Man still clutching the patch in his hands. "What's up pal", Gus swung by him and plopped himself in the seat opposite Max. "Huh?, Nothin'."

"What's that you got?"

"Seb's patch." Gus' eyes grew wide, "No way, who found it, how did they find it?"

"Alice did, I don't know how. Commander Erwin gave it to me."

"Alice Reil, wait _the_ Commander Erwin?"

"Is there another one that I'm not familiar with?"

"Okay smartass", he playfully punched Max in the shoulder, "What are they doing here."

"Apparently they're setting out to reclaim Wall Maria tomorrow morning."

"That soon? Gee, my dad didn't tell me it was tomorrow."

"Your dad's participating?"

"He was conscripted."

"B-but he's a carpenter, not a soldier." He regretted saying that as soon as he saw the worried look on his best friend's face, "Sorry, Gus. He'll be fine, Carlos is strong, built like an ox and Commander Erwin is a great strategist." He took Gus' hands in his, "He and the rest of the Scouts will keep him safe."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sabine came into the tavern, a small crate filled with liquor bottles in her arms. "Oh, hello Gustavo, I'm surprised to see you here." He winced at the sound of his full name, not even his own parents addressed him by it, "Hello Mrs Ren, I just dropped in to say 'hi' to Max." She walked behind the bar counter and began unpacking the crate. "I see, would you like to stay for supper, we've more than enough, at present?" Gus pondered the offer, his father would be heading off in a few hours and it was likely he would like to share one last meal with his family. "I'd love to but my father is heading off to reclaim Wall Maria tomorrow morning, thank you for the offer though, Mrs Ren." Sabine nodded in understanding, there was a quiet realization amongst the three of them that it could be the last meal the Mervaine family shared together.

After Gus bid his goodbyes to them, Max helped his mother prepare dinner in order to save time for the evening rush that usually set upon The Masked Man. It was likely to be more intense than usual given that many who would be riding out the next morning would want to savour a peaceful existence before reality, inevitably, set in.

The living quarters occupied the entire top floor of the building, it was spacious but modest. The four of them sat at the table with Cyrus at its head peeling the skin off of his potatoes with his pocket knife. "So, Max", he looked up from his task to his nephew to his left, "When does cadet training commence?"

"January 1st", he said without looking up from his plate.

"Ah", he started stroking his goatee, "Well make sure you give it socks, it's very tough to get into the Military Police, they only recruit the top 10 after all."

"Military Police?", Max dropped his knife and fork at the mention of them. "Oh yeah, so many want it, serving alongside the King, three square meals a day, a comfortable life in the interior. Never easy to make the top 10, but you have the genes for it, no pressure."

"And why would I want to join up with those spineless slackers?", he narrowed his eyes at Cyrus. "Oh is the Garrison more to your liking then, oh well not much work there I suppose, not as lax as it used to be but certainly easier than-" *BANG*. All of them jumped as Max stood up and violently slammed both of hands on the table, "I'M GOING TO JOIN THE SCOUTS, LIKE MY FATHER, UNCLE AND BROTHER BEFORE ME!"

Cyrus quickly regained his composure, "Max, please don't make the same mistake those two did, they were each the number one trainee and they opted to be Titan fodder. Think of Margo and Sabine, your mother and sister need you now more than ever."

"Why does someone like _you_ have respect for the MPs. You killed three of them with the very knife you're holding in your hand right now!"

"MAXIMILIAN!", it was Sabine's turn to stand up now, her stance mirroring her son's. "That's enough, apologize to your uncle, this instant."

"I can't believe this, after everything Seb, Uncle Rudi and Dad fought and died for, you're willing to let this swine disrespect their memory like that-" Cyrus' open palm slammed into his left cheek knocking him to the floor. "You're always welcome here boy, but I will not be so openly disrespected like that under my own roof, your father and brother's recklessness means that you're the man of your household. I always thought your father wasn't good enough for my baby sister but I was willing to put up with him for the sake of her happiness." He lifted Max to his feet, "Take responsibility and look after your sister and mother", he looked his nephew dead in his hazel eyes with his dark grey ones, "Now apologize to your mother and head to your room and cool off, I need you rested for tonight."

He walked over to Sabine, "I'm sorry", he grumbled and headed to his room. He sat on his bed and lay back covering his face with his pillow and screamed, the sound muffled by it.

He looked to his right at the small wooden box on his bedside table. He opened it up and took out both Misa's locket and Seb's patch. "I'll show them, I'll show them all, the Titans will pay for taking you away from me, even if I'm the last one standing." He felt a pang of guilt in holding on to Misa's locket this long given that Alice had given him Seb's patch, Alice had no family left, it felt like stealing in not giving her the one remaining thing left of Misa. "When the time is right", he said to the locket giving it a kiss along with the patch and placed both of them back into the wooden box.

A few hours later he was working behind the bar taking orders and making the occasional trip to the storeroom to bring out more bottled drinks. Margo was the only member of the family not working having been brought to bed after supper.

Max recognized a few members of the Garrison were in attendance along with the Supreme Commander of the Southern Forces, Dot Pixies. He now doubted enjoying the mood despite what lay before almost all of the attendees the following morning, the old man was showing no sign of slowing down. Lovers embraced each other savouring their last night together, men and women comforted their families assuring them that they would return safely and comrades banged their mugs together and knocked their drinks back.

"Do families and friends get a discount?", a voice broke him from his reverie. Max smiled at Mike, "I would if I could but I'm on the boss' bad side, unfortunately." Mike only blew air through his nose, "In any case, a mug of pear cider please, can't go too crazy." Max nodded, "Comin' right up, 3.67, please."

After returning with Mike's drink, Max noticed a young, tall woman with cropped-cut blonde hair sitting next to him at the counter. "Max, this here is Nanaba, a member of my squad." She offered her hand, "Pleased to meet you, you're Section Commander Ren's son and Seb's younger brother, right?, I'm sorry for your loss." Max took her hand, "I appreciate it, did you know either of them personally?"

He took the time to study her appearance, her lean body and haircut gave her a somewhat masculine appearance but she was attractive in her own unique way. "Seb was actually one of my friends in the Scouts, he always put the rest of us to shame." She turned her head away, "I never thought he would die before me, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up." Max raised his hands in assurance, "Don't worry about it, really."

It was Mike's turn to speak, "Your brother died a hero, Max like your uncle and father did, he could've run off with the rest of us but stayed behind to save Alice, she was surrounded by five Titans before he came rushing in." Max's mouth hung agape, "Wait, Alice Reil?", Mike only nodded, "How do you know her exactly?", he asked.

"Her little sister was friends with myself and my other friend, Gus, since we were able to walk, before-", he swallowed hard, "-that day." Both of them nodded their heads at him in understanding and Nanaba placed her hand on one of his. He hadn't noticed he had bunched into a fist so tightly that his knuckles were white. "It's okay, Max, you don't have to speak about it, he may have been my friend, but he was your brother." He nodded, "Thank you", he sniffled and allowed them to join up with the rest of their comrades.

 _2 Weeks Later:_

Max sat atop one of the barrels behind _The Masked Man_ while Gus paced back and forth. News had spread that the expedition had been a disaster, no official casualty report had been released yet, but he had overheard a member of the MPs mention that not even 200 of the 250,000 who were sent out had survived. Gus had not heard any updates on his father and the longer he waited the more anxious he became.

Max felt so helpless watching his best friend as the uncertainty grew. Gus' face was ashen, his expressive brown eyes were sunken in and his black hair was matted from continuous nights of sweating. Then the bells rang and both of them rushed towards the main gate.

They were the first there but the street rapidly began filling up, as the surviving soldiers entered the gate everyone's worst fears were realized. Not only had the mission failed, the expedition had been eviscerated. Commander Erwin kept his face forward, his face expressionless, but Max could tell by the way his shoulders were slightly hunched up that the loss had deeply affected him.

Gus scanned through the crowd, trying to find his father, "Where is he?" he rushed into the formation, "Gus wait", Max reached out to pull him back but Gus yanked his arm back. "Papa, Papa, where are you?" He grabbed a nearby shoulder, "Where is father, Carlos Mervaine, is he injured, is he at the back of the formation, I don't see him?" His eyes were beginning to water. The soldier placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, kid, I don't know."

Just then Gus noticed something on a nearby wagon, an arm was sticking out under a large dark green sheet. He recognized the pendant on the wrist of the owner's arm, his mother had given it to Carlos when they first started dating. "PAPA!" he jumped onto the wagon, "Wait kid, DON'T!" one of the soldiers ran after him.

He pulled back the sheet and his eyes grew wide fixed upon the sight before him. His father, Carlos Mervaine, was dead, the upper half of his head was missing just above the tip of what used to be his nose. The crowd audibly gasped as the wagon passed with the sheet no longer concealing the horrors that lay beneath it.

He was despondent even as the soldiers lifted him off. Max had lost family members to the Titans, but he never saw the end result, there was no way he could emphasize with Gus at this moment, all he could do was guide him back to his... _house? Home didn't feel right, Trost could never replace Shiranagh_ , he thought to himself.

"I have to kill them, Max", Gus told him a few days later. Max looked back at him, "We were always going to join the Scouts together, you know I'm with you every step of the way."

"But what about what Cyrus said to you?"

"Tch, that coward can't tell me what to do, I'm joining the Scouts, I'm going to make sure everyone who died in Shiranagh did not in vain. The Titans will pay for everything they've done. We'll do it, for Misa", he offered his hand to his childhood friend, "Together?"

"Together!", they each grabbed the other's forearm. They were children no longer.


	2. New Beginnings

_Southern Region Cadet Camp, Year 847_

Max stood along with the other new recruits in the formation as the instructor made his presence known to them. "Straighten those spines piss-heads, the 104th Cadet Corps boot-camp starts now!" The source of the shouting came from a tall bald man with intimidating sunken eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Commandant Keith Shadis and you _will_ grow to hate me", Max stood up even straighter, this was the man he had badmouthed when his father informed him that he was resigning as Commander and leaving the Survey Corps. He knew his father to be tall, just a hair shorter than Mike but Shadis was even taller he was gigantic compared to some of the shorter recruits. "Training is going to be a white-knuckle ride through Hell, if I've done my job you'll be waking up in a cold sweat from memories of this place, EVERY NIGHT FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIVES!", the Commandant continued, eyes scanning the entire ensemble, "Right now you're _nothing._ Livestock, but over the next three soul-crushing years, you'll learn to take down your own Goliath. Remember _this_ moment when you come face to face with it, 'cause here's where you ask yourself; am I fighter, or am I fate? Am I going to be ground up to pulp and human gristle between boulder-sized incisors, OR AM I GONNA BE THE ONE TO BITE?!"

Shadis then proceeded to make his way through the rows of recruits, some doing their best to maintain their composure, while others were clearly shitting bricks and were visibly holding their breath as Shadis chose their row. "You there, Slick", he growled at a boy with said slicked back brown hair, "Sir!", he made the military salute, his left arm behind his back and right arm bringing his closed fist across his left breast. "Name, recruit?"

"Uh, Nack Tierce from Krolva sir", his voice was clearly wavering under Shadis' intimidating gaze. "You think you're special styling your hair like that, Tierce? Focus less on your hairstyle and more on standing up STRAIGHT." Max saw him give a verbal beatdown to each recruit and he now made it to his row and towards a face, Max was becoming familiar with; that little blond boy from the Trost Barracks that time when they were all refugees fleeing the lands of Wall Maria. What in the world was he doing _here_ of all places? "Hey Mop-Top", Shadis barked at him, "Sir!", the boy responded with the salute. "What do they call you, maggot?"

"Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina, sir."

"Wow, seriously, why would your parents curse you with such a dumb name?!

"It was my grandfather, sir!" Shadis bent down and screamed in Amin's face, "Cadet Arlert why is a runt like you here?" Armin shut his eyes tight, "To help humanity overcome the Titans!"There was the tiniest hint of a smile on Shadis' face, "That is delightful to hear! You're gonna make a nice light snack for 'em", he grabbed Armin by the top of his head and spun him around, "Row three about-face, runt."

Shadis had now moved on to grilling a few more, Thomas Wagner, Mina Carolina and Samuel Linke Jackson but Shadis appeared to pass by Max, Gus and a few others, he overheard two passing instructors comment on this. "A drill instructor's nothing compared to what those recruits have seen. They were there; witnesses to the hell of the Titan attack two years ago. You can read it in their faces." He was right, Shadis was intimidating but he wasn't the devil incarnate, both him and Gus had seen Titans in the flesh, and Gus had seen the mangled remains of his father who had fallen victim to them. He also recognized a few of said faces; the blond boy's two friends from the Trost barracks, along with the short blonde girl he had bumped into in the line for food.

"What do we have over here?", Shadis now stood in front of a lanky boy with an undercut hairstyle, "Jean Kirstein, sir, from the Trost District."

"And why are you here cadet?" Jean tensed up, "To join the Military Police sir, the best of the best." Max and Gus both gave Jean serious side eye though he was too focused (intimidated?) on what Shadis' response would be. "That's _nice_ , you wanna live in the interior do ya?"

"Yes", Shadis suddenly headbutt Jean sending him to dirt, "NO ONE TOLD YOU TO SIT RECRUIT IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS KIRSTEIN THEN FORGET ABOUT JOINING THE MILITARY POLICE." Max considered the response to be a little extreme, sure Jean may have given a naive answer, but it wasn't deserving of a headbutt from a man who had more than a head of height on him. Shadis clearly didn't care as he moved on, "WHAT THE HELL's WRONG WITH YOUR FACE YOU SMILING IDIOT?!"

"Marco Bott at your service sir, from Jinae, south side of Wall Rose, I aim to join the military police and give life and limb in service to the king". The recruit responded. Gus felt that Marco responded far too positively. "I see", Shadis' tone was eerily calm, "That makes you an idealistic fool and a rube, you want the truth?", Shadis leaned into Marco's face. Gus couldn't make out what he said but it left Marco standing perfectly still with his mouth agape.

Shadis paid him no attention as he moved further down the line, "Hey cue-ball, you're up next". His next target was a short boy with a shaved head, obviously the source of Shadis' choice of name calling. "Eh me?", he brought his hand to his chest and Gus noticed he had it the wrong way round, "Sir, Connie Springer from Ragako village sir." Both Max and Gus almost gasped at what Shadis did next; in an impressive feat of physical strength, he had lifted Connie all the way up to eye level by grabbing the sides of his head. "You have it backwards Connie Springer. That was the first thing you were taught; This salute represents the resolve in your heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people. IS YOUR HEART ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE?!"

Max's attention was drawn to the girl in the two rows behind Connie. She was tallish with the same hair colour as him, tied in a ponytail, big expressive brown eyes and she was holding something in her right hand, _wait was that-?_ His thoughts were interrupted when she took a large bite out of the said object, creating a loud crunching echo throughout the entire crowd of recruits. "Did she just...", Gus whispered to Max. "Eat a potato? Looks like it." He responded. Shadis along with everyone else had noticed, almost all of the recruits had shocked expressions on their faces. Shadis released his grip on Connie "Hey you there, what do you think you're doing?", the Commandant's voice was dangerously calm. Sasha appeared to ignore him and took another huge bite.

Shadis was on her like a dog to a bone, "YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON MY SHIT LIST! JUST WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU?! Sasha swallowed her large mouthful and saluted him, "Sasha Braus from Dauper village at your service, reporting for duty sir!"

"Sasha Braus, huh, and what is that you're clutching in your right hand?"

"A steamed potato. It sat there in the mess hall begging to be eaten, sir." _She can't possibly be serious_ Max thought to himself. Shadis was still intrigued, "The theft I understand, but here, why eat it here of all places?"

"It looks quite delicious and it was getting cold. So I gave it shelter in my stomach, sir." _For crying out loud_. Shadis was perplexed, "Why, I can't comprehend, why would you eat that potato?" Shadis appeared to be asking himself the question as much as he was Sasha. It was her turn to be confused, "Are you asking me why people eat potatoes? I'm surprised you don't know sir."

Max, Gus and everyone else was in shock, did this girl have some sort of death wish? The only noise heard was the whistling of the wind as Shadis still stood in front of Sasha. Becoming extremely nervous at the silence, Sasha took the potato and broke it into two pieces. "Here sir, have half". Max noticed that it wasn't a full half, she had actually offered him the smaller of the two 'halves'. Shadis took it in his hand, "Have half, really?" Sasha grinned goofily but the Commandant was not amused. He snatched the other piece from Sasha's hand throwing both pieces to the floor and stomped on them grounding the potato into the dirt. Gus thought the expression on Sasha's face made it look as if she had just seen the Commandant kill her puppy. "You like food, huh", he grabbed the recruit by the collar of her shirt, "Well then, run laps around the compound until the sun sets", Gus thought he saw relief form on Sasha's face, "Or you can expect no meal privileges for the next five days" Shadis growled. _That definitely seemed to bother her_ , Gus thought to look at her reaction.

Sasha complied and ran off to begin her punishment, while Shadis resumed his verbal beatdown of the recruits. When he finally finished he stood before them again, "We're done here cadets make your way to your bunkers, girls on the left, boys on the right. Supper is served at 6 p.m sharp, no exceptions."

Gus and Max headed off together, they both chose bunks near the far end of the cabin. The lodgings were modest, comprising of bunk beds with foot-lockers at the foot of each one on the bottom bunk while those on the top bunk had their lockers at the back of each bottom one. Max and Gus began unpacking their belongings and into their respective lockers. Recruits were permitted to change out of their uniforms so Max neatly folded his jacket and changed his indigo blue shirt for a long-sleeved dark grey one, while Gus was now wearing his signature scarlet top and olive green pants, his mother appeared to have made him a larger set since the ones he used to wear had gotten too small due to his growth over the past two years. Max carefully placed his small wooden box on top of his folded clothes in his footlocker opening it up he took out Misa's pendant. He had managed to take good care of it over the past 2 years with it still retaining its golden shine.

Gus noticed his friend was spaced out, "Oi, you alright?"

"Yeah, just fine", Gus wasn't entirely satisfied with Max's answer, "I miss her too." Max sighed deeply, "She should be here with us, I'd love to see what she would say to Shadis and she'd have found potato girl hilarious ." Gus laughed, "Yeah, what the hell was she thinking, I mean eating in front of the entire corps with the Commandant already tearing people a new one?"

"Guess she was still hungry", they turned to see that Jean Kirstein standing next to them, "Though I don't see how, because she pigged out at breakfast this morning", he continued.

"Jean wasn't it?" Gus offered his hand. Which Jean accepted "Correct and you are?"

"Gustavo Mervaine, but people just call me 'Gus', easier to remember." Jean nodded and turned to Max, "Maximilian Ren, but please call me 'Max' ", he offered his hand as well "How's the head?"

"Better", he said rubbing his forehead, "How come you two didn't get grilled?"

"Oh, we're from Shiranagh, southeastern Wall Maria", Gus said looking away and rubbed his arm up and down.

"Oh?", Jean's eyes grew wide in realisation, "Oh!"

"Yeah", Max said with a sigh, "Because of how far out we were we didn't get the word right away", he inhaled deeply through his nose, "It happened when we were in bed at night, we lost our best friend that day, Misa. All three of us had been inseparable since we were toddlers and we were planning to join the military together." Jean nodded in understanding, or at least he tried to.

Gus recognised the boy coming over to them, Marco. "Oh hi, Marco Bott, nice to meet you", he offered his hand which both of them shook. After introducing themselves they decided to sit down on their bunks, fortunately, Marco and Jean both shared a bunk and were opposite them, Marco on the top bunk and Jean on the bottom. They were right in the middle of a conversation now, "So you've seen one?", Jean asked. Max nodded. "Eh, um, how close were you?"

"Jean!", Marco scolded his friend, Max gave a reassuring wave, "It's fine really, they sure are ugly though."

"Yeah", Gus butted in, "They look like goofy humans, sort of." _I've always wondered why that is_ Max thought to himself, _how is it that they look so similar to us, we don't even know where they came from_.

A couple of hours later Max joined Marco and a few others; Mina, Connie, Armin and his friend Eren out on the porch of their cabin. "Man, I thought Shadis was gonna kill Potato girl", Connie announced. Eren nodded, "I know, what a hell of a first day. It's funny being told to run until the sun sets didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as losing meal privileges for the next five days."

"I think she said she's from Dauper, if I remember right that's a small hunting village up in the mountains." Max had zoned out slightly focusing on the wagon heading up the slope out of the compound. He tapped Eren and pointed. "Hey what's that?", Eren asked.

"They're dropouts", Mina didn't have a hint of surprise in her voice, "They prefer to work in the fields." Armin shook his head, "B-but it's only the first day." Max walked up to the railing of the porch beside Eren, "I guess they got a grim sense of reality and what it means to become a soldier, no longer fun and games." Eren crossed his arms, " That's the way it is, if you can't handle the pressure, gotta leave", he shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe anyone would rather pull plants than fight."

Marco got up from leaning on the railing, "I know about some of us, but you never mentioned where you were from, Eren." Eren smiled, "The same as Armin", he placed a hand on the blond's shoulder, "From Shiganshina."Max along with the others stood up straighter, "Oh wow, that means-", Marco began, "You saw it, you were there that day!", Connie interrupted causing Max to shake his head at him, "Huh, quiet!", Marco turned to him. Connie ignored him, "The Colossal One, did you see him?!" Max spoke up, "Connie, leave him alone." Eren just looked at him, "Yeah, yeah I did." They were interrupted by the bell which signalled supper-time.

Looking at what was served to them, Max realized how spoilt he had been in having a mother who could cook. A bowl of what appeared to be potato stew and a small loaf of bread did not exactly come across as appetizing, he would rather eat a whole plate of turnip than this but he relented and figured this would be the norm over the next three years. Gus sat to his right greedily digging into his serving. "Never were one for table manners, eh?"

"If you don't want yours I'll take it", he reached out for Max's tray. Max placed his hand on Gus's face to push his greedy friend away, "Shove off." Max noticed that a large group had gathered around Eren as he recounted the fall of Shiganshina. "Yeah, okay. I saw the Big Guy." They all gasped, "Woah, seriously?...Okay, exactly how tall was he?" Both Thomas and Samuel respectively asked. "He stuck his head over the Outer Wall."

"Woah, wait I heard he stepped over the Wall completely!", Daz exclaimed. "So did I", chimed in a red-head named Hannah. "That was a rumour in my village too", added Franz. Eren looked up, "Nah, he was big but not that big." Mina leaned in, "What did it look like?"

"It had a mouth like a corpse and no skin, just muscle."

"And the Armoured Titan, the one that broke through Wall Maria?"

"Is that what they're calling it? In all the panic it was just another Titan to me." Max felt tiredness beginning to descend on him and he began to make his way back to his cabin, "I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow Gus, Jean." They both nodded in response. As he made his way to the door of the mess hall, a question from Samuel to Eren made him stop in his tracks, "No way, so what were they like?" Max turned around and shot Samuel an icy glare. _Who does he think he is asking a question like that?_ His train of thought was interrupted by Eren dropping his spoon and bringing his hand to his mouth. Marco appeared to sympathise with Eren's predicament, "Come on that's enough questions alright? I'm sure he'd rather not relive everything he went through" _At least one person here isn't an asshole_. He made his way back to his bunk, changed into a t-shirt and boxer shorts and went to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Back in the mess hall, Gus was still listening to Eren's account, "Those stupid Titans, they're really not that big a deal. If we focus on mastering the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear they give us it's Titan payback time." Gus noticed that Jean seemed particularly bemused at the sound of that. "I've waited years to be trained as a soldier and all of a sudden the reality's sinking in. I'm joining the Scout Regiment and sending the Titans back to hell, I'm gonna butcher them all." Gus internally cheered at Eren's words, he emphasised with him completely, he still had that thirst for revenge to see the monsters suffer for his father's death and all of those who lost their lives when Shiranagh fell. He and Max would do it together.

Jean sat up in his seat, "Hey are you crazy or something", he called over to Eren, "Not that it's my business but signing up for reconnaissance is like a death sentence." Eren furrowed his brows at him, "I guess we'll see, or at least I will. You seem content hiding in the interior with the MPs." Gus gave Jean a look telling him to back off but he paid him no interest, "Look I'm just speaking honestly here, kid. I think it's better than being some loudmouth, braggart, tough-guy wannabe pretending he's not as pissed scared as the rest of us." Eren stood up suddenly causing the bench he was sitting on to slide back with an audible *THUD*. "Are you trying to pick a fight?" he snarled at him. Marco stepped in "Stop it, you guys." Jean stood up, "Alright, sure. Makes no difference to me." Gus readied himself to intervene if the situation called for it, a fight between trainees on only the first day would not go down well. Just as the two boys squared up to each other the bell rang signalling for everyone to retire to their bunks. Jean sighed, "Hey, I apologize, sorry for calling you names and dismissing your choice of career." He offered his hand to Eren, "Put her there kid, waddaya say?" Eren straightened his posture, "Yeah I'm sorry as well", he quickly slapped Jean's hand and made his way out of the mess hall.

As they made their way back to the boys' cabin, Gus walked with Jean and Marco, Gus didn't take to kindly to Jean's dismissing of the Scouts. "Do me a favour man and don't diss the Scouts." Jean narrowed his eyes at him, "Huh?"

"I'm serious, back in my hometown, they were a source of pride, more people from Shiranagh served than any other settlement, and don't let Max hear you, his uncle, father and brother died fighting for them." Jean lowered his head, "Sorry I should've chosen my words better, I had no idea, that kid annoys me though, he's got some sort of hero complex that will probably get him killed."

"Well, all I'm gonna say is that he won't be joining the Scouts alone."

"Wait, you?" Gus only nodded in response. "But you've seen what they can do, why Gus?"

"I'm not ready to say why right now, I just what to kill as many as the oversized bastards as I can while I'm still breathing."

* * *

 _He was back in Shiranagh, summer was in full swing, children were playing in the fields. It must've been a few years in the future because he felt the hair on his face, his hands were calloused and weathered from years of hard riding on horseback. He saw Gus sitting at a table outside the town's tavern playing cards Hans Elsnar. He felt that he wasn't in control of his legs and they were guiding him out of their own free whim. They led him to a house right next door to his own. He saw Margo, now a young woman chatting away with their mother at the kitchen table, cups of tea in both their hands. They both smiled at him as he walked through the doorway as they continued their conversation. His attention was drawn to a figure at the water pump, a tall blonde woman wearing a Scouts Regiment Jacket, her back was turned to him as she washed dishes in the sink. When she turned around his breath caught in his throat. "Misa?", his voice sounded considerably deeper than it was supposed to. "Heya, champ, care to join me?" He took a moment to take in the sight before him. It was indeed, Misa Reil, now a fully grown woman, she was beautiful; intense blue eyes, soft cheeks and her signature button nose and she still retained that signature cheeky grin of hers. "But, how?", he felt himself choking back the lump forming in his throat. She smiled at him, "How what, champ?"_

 _"I-I saw you...I saw you...", he grabbed her shoulders, "Is this real?"_

 _"Of course it is Max, are you okay?" She placed a hand on his chest. Max looked down the hand definitely felt real. He wrapped her in a tight embrace, "I love you Misa." She reciprocated his hug, "I know you do champ", she took his hand and then guided it to her midriff "And so does she." His eyes grew wide, "Wait, are you?". She laughed, "Did you hit your head getting off your horse, I told you last night, remember?" He looked around and saw his mother, Sabine, tears of joy in her eyes, Margo smiling warmly at him, "I'm going to be the coolest aunt ever."_

 _Later that night he was in bed, Misa asleep against his chest._ Is this real? _he kept asking himself maybe that nightmarish day where his whole came crashing down was just that; a nightmare. And that's when he heard it; that familiar rumble. The whole house started shaking with the tremors. With a loud crash, the bedroom was split open. A face that had been repressed by him for so long now stood in front of him, peering greedily into the destroyed room. The shoulder-length grey hair, the piggish blue eyes and that nightmare-inducing smile. It reached out and grabbed Misa._

 _All of sudden Max was no longer in the bedroom but in the middle of the street. The Titan was no longer holding onto Misa, but Shiranagh's local butcher. It shoved him into its mouth like a piece of human candy. Max looked around and it now had both his mother and Margo in each hand, except Margo was no longer an adult, she looked the exact same as she did when he hugged her goodbye the morning he left for boot camp. "Mama, I'm scared!", she screamed through sobs. As he reached down for his blades he realised that they weren't there, neither was any of his gear, he was wearing the exact clothes from that day. He was no longer an adult, he was a kid again, he was reliving the fall of Shiranagh all over again. He was paralysed with fear and all he could do was watch as the Titan dropped both his mother and sister into its mouth._

 _It looked down at him, its smirk as wide as ever and grabbed him. With all of his might, he closed his fist and began punching its hand repeatedly to no effect. The Titan reached down again and it had someone else in its grasp. All of his breath seemed to leave him at once when he recognised who it was. "MISA!" he screamed, the Titan seemed to react to this and threw her into its maw and then did the same to him. They were now both inside the Titans mouth, salvia coating their entire bodies, the heat was unbearable and the stench of rotten meat, of people, of death._

 _Suddenly they both felt a change in gravity as they were both sliding down towards the Titan's throat. "MAX", Misa''s lower half had already fallen down the gullet, he reached out to grab her with one hand and held onto one of the nearby molars with the other. The combination of her weight and the slickness of the Titan's saliva coating her was slowly causing him to lose his grip on her. "Misa, you have to hold on", he begged. "I'm sorry Max, I can't." It couldn't end like this it was only a few hours ago they were together, the town restored,_ How?, _he despaired,_ How had it changed so quickly?. _The Titan then bit down, severing his hand, he lost his grip as both of them began their descent down a murky tunnel to their doom._

* * *

He woke up in a sweat, sitting up and still catching his breath. He studied his surroundings and realised he was in his bunk in the boys' cabin in the 104th Cadet Corps boot-camp. Everyone else was sound asleep, some snoring softly in the silence of the room. He lay back down and after several failed attempts at falling asleep, he gave up.

Carefully creeping down the ladder from the top bunk, he put on his boots and his cadet jacket and headed outside. He sat on the stairs leading up to the cabin. He was absent-mindedly bouncing a small ball up and down beside him while studying Misa's locket in his right hand. Judging by the moon position it must've been between 1 and 2 a.m, the camp was eerily quiet, all of the lights were off, the only sign of life were the sentries in the towers surrounding the compound.

"Shouldn't be out here this late, if the instructors catch you, it won't end well for you." He turned to the source of the voice, a tall freckle-faced girl with chin-length, brunette hair and tied back was leaning against the cabin, even in the dim light, he could see that her amber-coloured eyes were fixed on him. "Could say the same to you", he said without looking at her, his voice monotone from the lack of sleep. She shrugged, "Meh, I've been through worse than a telling off."

Max stood up, "Are you saying I've never experienced anything worse than being yelled at?" She raised her hands conceding, "Woah, touchy." He sat back down and started bouncing the ball again, "Sorry, just cranky from lack of sleep." The girl sat down next to him, "Don't worry about it, and don't apologise, ever." He narrowed his eyes at her, "The world is shit, apologising won't change that." He chuckled softly, "Fair point."

"Name's Ymir."

"Max."

"So, why are you out here?"

"Like I said; couldn't sleep."

"Oh, why?"

"Do you really need to know?"

"If you don't wanna talk about it, don't", she grabbed the ball.

"Hey, give that-"

"But you don't wanna be known as the guy who can't sleep because of nightmares, or who sneaks out at night, that's how rumours start."

"Okay, why?"

"They'll know you have a weakness and exploit it, like it or not but everyone here is competing, only the top 10 recruits get selected for the MPs."

"Like I care, I'm not joining those cowardly slackers." Ymir smiled, "That's all well and good but almost everyone else here wants to, and they'll do anything to ensure they do get in, and if they can exploit you they will."

"I need to go back to bed, thanks for the advice, I guess."

"Don't sweat it kid", she stretched her arms above her head and yawned, "Best hit the hay too."

Climbing back into bed he looked at Misa's locket in his hand, "I guess she kinda has a point, if I'm not gonna be weak, then I need you to be my strength, Misa. I know you'll be with me every step of the way", he whispered softly to himself and he gently got out of his bunk and placed the locket back in his locker. Once he was back in his bunk, he quickly began to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

He was thankful for having family members who served in the military, and specifically the Scouts, Seb had allowed him to use his ODM gear, under the careful supervision of his brother. So, naturally, he took to the gear like a breeze, except this time it was properly fitted. He felt as light as air, just hanging in place. Looking over at Gus, his friend was showing no signs of difficulties despite being the first time he had used the device. However, the sight at his immediate right made his heart sink, Eren was suspended upside down, struggling to get himself back into position. "What is your major malfunction Yeager?!", Shadis barked at him, "STRAIGHTEN YOURSELF UP!"

Gus, having completed his drill, lowered the winch, "Here", he offered Eren his hand and helped pull him up to a standing position. He really didn't know where to look, here was the guy who clearly showed no fear of the Titans but that was all for nought if he couldn't even master the basics of the ODM gear. "Might just need practice", he patted him on the shoulder "Don't let it get to you." Max was now out of his gear and re-adjusting his pants. "Rough day for him I guess." Gus shrugged "S'pose so, maybe some people aren't cut out to be a soldier."

"You sure you're not being overly harsh, he has tomorrow as well, plenty of time for him to right the ship."

"Hmm, let's go get some grub, I'm starved." Max rolled his eyes, "Sure, why not?"

A few hours later at supper, Eren sat next to Mikasa, Max noticed that his head was now bandaged on account of his head smacking off the ground when he lost his balance. As he was bringing his tray over to his usual spot at the table that he normally shared with Gus, Jean, Marco and Connie, he overheard two voices describing Eren's misfortune. "Hey Daz, he was talking big about butchering all the Titans, but he got real quiet after ODM training didn't he?"

"I guess it's the fields for him tomorrow", he had the smuggest grin on his face, "Can't keep wasting food on the useless." Max took his moment and bumped his hip against Daz's tray sending the bowl of potato soup into Daz's lap, "Oh pardon me", he managed not to say too sarcastically. "You klutz", he stood up "Watch where you're going!" Max squared up to him, he had a couple of inches on the fair-skinned boy and more than a few pounds as well. "Well don't leave your tray hanging off the edge like that." He brushed past him and made his way to his table.

Max was getting ready for bed as he overheard Eren pleading for advice from Jean, Connie and Gus on how to master ODM basics. "What's the trick to posture control?", Connie chuckled, "Hard to say, guess I've got the gift, you've just got to feel it ya know?"

"I'm tryna figure out your trick", Jean butted in, "You've screwed up every way imaginable, short of an accidental equipment-related asphyxiation."

"Can't help you, Yeager, it's not quite something that can be taught through words, sorry", Gus crossed his arms.

"Please guys", Eren looked crestfallen, "I'm begging you."

"That's funny", Connie huffed, "Isn't it just yesterday, you said 'if you can't handle the pressure you gotta leave'? No wait, was it 'if you're a complete idiot you gotta leave'? Something like that"

Max stopped climbing up to his bunk and walked over to Eren, "Look, man, I can't give you any pointers, I've used ODM gear before due to my brother being in the military, but Bertolt and Reiner might be able to help you, they're both naturals at it."

"Really", Eren's expression changed to one of hope, "Gee, I uh, thanks, Max." He darted off to find the aforementioned twosome, _Gee I hope I didn't get his hopes up_.

Max smacked both Connie and Jean behind the head, "Could you two be any _bigger_ assholes?"

"Ugh, whatever I'm hitting the hay", Jean said while rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

The next morning all of the recruits were gathered around the single ODM gear training equipment, Max had both of his fists bunched up at his sides. _Come on, I know you can do it just forget everything else and focus on your balance_. Eren was strapped up to the equipment a determined look on his face, Shadis stood before him, "Eren Yeager, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir", the determination in his voice, betrayed the beads of perspiration trickling down his temples." Max stood between Gus and Ymir. "Think he can do it?", the brunette asked lazily. "Has to", said Gus, "Otherwise it's the fields", he kept his eyes fixed on Eren. "He will, I'm sure of it."

"Proceed", Shadis ordered. Thomas began to slowly wind the winch and Eren was now suspended in the air and was keeping his balance. _He's doing it, I knew you had it in you._ The other recruits cheered, with Max and Gus joining in. Then they both saw Eren begin to wobble and lose his balance, "No, No, No", Gus moaned, "This isn't fair." Eren fell backwards, now suspended upside-down as he was yesterday. The entire crowd gasped at the tragic scene, even Shadis looked disappointed. "No, not yet, once more, I can do it", he pleaded. "Lower him", Shadis commanded softly. Eren was now on his knees and on the verge of tears, "I-I'm finished", the boy whimpered. Shadis looked at Thomas, "Wagner, please exchange belts with Mr Jaeger."

"What use will that do?", Gus whispered to Max, who shrugged in return, "Guess, we'll have to wait and see." Five minutes later, after he had exchanged belts with Thomas, Eren was once again suspended in the air, only this time his stance was perfect. Eren seemed surprised at how easy it seemed now. "Your equipment was defective if given a piece of functional gear you might not be worthless after all. Quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp", he held the offending item in both of his hands, "Might have to visit the supply depot and crack a couple skulls."

"So you mean, I didn't wash out?", the hope beginning to return to his voice. "You made the cut, now keep training cadet."

Later that day, in the orange glow of the early evening Max, Gus, and several other recruits were training with their gear in the large forest in the compound. With another burst from his gear, Max flung himself onto a high-hanging branch. He was soon joined by Gus and they both took in the captivating sight that was afforded to them by their position. A clanging sound of an ODM hitting the branch caught their attention. Max offered a hand and hoisted Eren up to the branch with them. "Never doubted you for a second, always knew you had the ability." A cheeky glint appeared in the brunet's eyes, "Race ya to the bottom?"

"You got it", Max dived down, soon followed by Eren, "Wait for me you blockheads", Gus called after them.


End file.
